In this edition of ‘Working At…’ Steffie Nuijts talks about her experiences as Assurance Associate at Big Four company PwC.
16 June, 2021
For the Dutch version, click here
Who am I?
My name is Sam Tushuizen, I am 23 years old and I live in Tilburg. Ever since I had management & organization at secondary school, I already knew: I want to become an accountant. By the time I had to choose a study, I considered going to Nyenrode immediately after high school and starting to work. In the end, I didn’t choose this and started my bachelor’s degree in Business Economics at Tilburg University in 2015. The accountancy courses we received confirmed my image that I would like to go into auditing. That is why I subsequently started to follow the master Accountancy, also at Tilburg University. I postponed the master’s thesis for six months, so I had relatively few lectures during the third and fourth block. I thought it would be a good idea to gain some work experience during my master’s. That’s when I first got in touch with my employer. That’s when I first came into contact with PwC, where I did a three-month internship. After the summer, I did another thesis internship, after which I officially started as an Associate at PwC in February 2020.
Working at PwC
PwC is one of the Big4 accountancy firms with 12 offices in the Netherlands. I’m in the Zuid business unit, which includes the Breda, Eindhoven and Maastricht offices. We audit a wide range of clients. They include large listed companies, educational institutions, manufacturing companies, family businesses and municipalities. When you start at PwC, you will initially be assigned the broadest possible client portfolio. This will give you the opportunity to gain experience with different types of clients first, and then to make a good choice as to which clients you like and which you don’t.
“All my colleagues, from senior associate to manager and partner, are always there to coach you and help you if you don’t understand something and start picking up new posts.”
One of the reasons I applied for a job at PwC was the fact that it is a Big4 firm. I think it’s important to develop within the accountancy profession at the start of your career. PwC fits in here by offering a diverse range of clients. By having different types of clients, the work remains diverse and challenging. In addition, as an Associate you will spend the first two years of your career in the Associate Academy, PwC’s internal training programme. Here you receive training on how to carry out certain tasks, hold discussions with clients, but also how to give feedback to your team members. The decisive factor was the atmosphere and the contact with the PwC employees that I experienced during the in-house day at A&F. During my master’s I took part in an in-house day which gave me the opportunity to experience what it’s like to be a PwC employee at a client’s location and to carry out the audit together with the team. Not only the work appealed to me, but also the atmosphere during the day. I still experience this when I’m working with the team at the client’s premises, in the office, or even virtually now: there’s always room for a chat. I can therefore recommend everyone to attend such a day. For me, it was the best way to experience what it’s like to work at PwC.
My future at PwC
It’s been almost 1.5 years since I started at PwC and I’m still learning something new every day. In the coming years, I want to continue to focus on my development as an accountant. Last September, I started the theoretical course (post-master accountancy) at Tilburg University to obtain my RA title. After this summer I will also start with the practical training, after which I hope to have my RA title in three years time. In the meantime I want to continue to challenge myself within PwC and the client portfolio that I have. PwC is a great place to work and develop yourself. All my colleagues, from senior associate to manager and partner, are always there to coach you and help you if you don’t understand something and start picking up new posts. Partly because of this, I’m still happy with my choice to work at PwC, and then I haven’t even experienced the free bibos, ski trip and Christmas drinks yet, because of Corona.
Your future at PwC
If you would like to know more about working at PwC, you can always send me a message via LinkedIn or email our recruiter Anil Kaplan (anil.kaplan@pwc.com).
